Cornerstone Building Planned For Spring

Talbot Real Estate plans to build a 100-unit apartment building on the open plot of muddy grass on 3102 Newmarket Street. The 1.4-acre property between Sloane Lane, Barkley Boulevard and Newmarket Street is the future site of the Cornerstone Building, which, in addition to apartments, will feature 10,000 square ft. of space for commercial use.

According to Stowe Talbot, Vice President of Talbot Real Estate, the Cornerstone will mix studio apartments, with single- and double-bedroom units available for occupants to own or rent. If the permitting process goes according to schedule, builders will break ground in spring of 2013 and aim to finish construction within 10 to 12 months. The completed Cornerstone will have two additional underground floors for parking, accessible from an eastside service road, according to a September building proposal.

The City of Bellingham has already approved the Design Review Permit for the project. Next, Talbot Real Estate will have to submit an application for a building permit, which will be reviewed by various offices in the city, including the Public Works and Building Departments, said Brian Smart, who works for the Planning and Community Development Department.

Georgiana Huddle, who works at the Barkley branch of the Bellingham Public Library, said she hopes more people come to the library after the Cornerstone is built. Right now, she says, about 300 people visiting the library per day is normal.   

Despite her optimism about more library activity, she said, “I’m sad about losing my view.”   

The Barkley library sits on the ground floor of the Drake Building, the only other residential property owned by Talbot Real Estate, which has condominiums as its only housing option. When the Cornerstone is built, the two housing units will face each other, and Huddle isn’t the only one concerned about the view.

A Drake Building resident who wished to be identified only as “an elderly lady” said she thought Barkley was a “beautiful and convenient place to live” but that the scene outside of her window will be marred by the larger-than-life apartments in the Cornerstone.

“As I understand, it’s gonna be very large,” she said, “I hate to see it come, but that’s life.”

She said she had little power to change the building plans. “I’m a renter, and nobody talks to renters.”

Barkley resident Kathy Hennessy said she was uncertain about what would happen to traffic and parking as a result of the new apartments. “But the area’s zoned for high-use,” she said. “The City’s done a traffic analysis and they think the area can handle it.”

Geralyn Reinart, a Seattle-based professional engineer, compiled that traffic analysis to in 2010. Among its findings were that commercial development in Barkley would increase the influx of people at a rate of 3000 more trips per day. The report also estimated that the City of Bellingham and the Barkley company would fix roads, add traffic lights and other improvements at a rate that would keep the area manageable.

Although the Design Review has passed, Smart said that obstacles to building could arise when Talbot Real Estate submits their building permit.  The City’s main concern about the building, Smart said, is how much the Cornerstone will add to light pollution. Bellingham prioritizes keeping its skies dark, he said.

To combat that worry, Talbot said, builders would direct all exterior lighting downwards. The building will have normal sidewalk streetlamps around it, and he said safety on the streets wouldn’t be a huge concern since the area has so many businesses and people surrounding it.

Whenever Talbot Real Estate submits their building application, Smart said, the city will take from 21-28 days to process it and either approve it or require changes.

“If they make any major changes to the infrastructure,” he said, “they might have to start all over again with the Design Review Permit.”  

But as long as they maintain the Cornerstone’s planned “architectural integrity,” Smart said, Talbot Real Estate won’t face any more official obstacles to building. There was a 14-day period in which citizens could appeal the building plans, but that ended Nov. 2.